page_title: Humor research
section_title: Humor in marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Humor research / Benefits of humor / Humor in marriage
caption_attribution_description: English: A young woman and man embracing while outdoors.
context_page_description: Humor research is a multifaceted field which enters the domains of linguistics, history, and literature. Research in humor has been done to understand the psychological and physiological effects, both positive and negative, on a person or groups of people. Research in humor has revealed many different theories of humor and many different kinds of humor including their functions and effects personally, in relationships, and in society.
context_section_description: In 2002, a study  was conducted on the functions of humor in close relationships. The study examined three types of humor:
  positive humor, describing positive aspects of humor, such as humor appreciation, attractiveness, and closeness
  negative humor, describing humor used to express aggression, or humor used in a manipulative manner
  instrumental humor, measuring the extent to which the person uses humor to avoid tension or tries to smooth over negative feelings
  Positive humor is expected to be related to intimacy and marital satisfaction. This relation was true for the wives, but not for the husbands. This suggests that whether or not husbands use positive humor, it has nothing to do with how closely they feel to their partner or their marital satisfaction. Research suggests that instrumental humor is negatively related to marital satisfaction and is an indicator of potential future marital deterioration. Results showed that husbands acknowledged using instrumental humor in their relationship in relation to demand-withdrawal, in which the wife demands and the husband withdraws. Wives, on the other hand, did not acknowledge the use of instrumental humor in this communication pattern. This seems to indicate that men more often withdraw than women, in this case, with the use of humor. Negative humor was not related to any of the other humor measure in the study. This makes sense considering that put-downs or hurtful humor does not tend to lead to laughter or humor appreciation. Negative humor items in the questionnaire given to the participants described expressing negative emotion. Negative humor somewhat correlated with demand-withdrawal for husbands and wives. This humor can be a form of passive aggressiveness where the one using the humor is not taking responsibility for the put-down or hurtful joke, and in doing so, avoiding, or withdrawing from, conflict.
caption: A couple laughing together
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